Chapter 3

In Memorial: A Fallen Knight

Ichigo awoke the morning of Masaya's funeral feeling a strange sense of ease. This funeral wasn't a mere good-bye for closure. It was a new beginning. It was the start of a new stage in life for Masaya, and a new day for her to begin in the material world.

She rolled over in bed, picking up the portrait of her and Masaya. Though she couldn't see it due to the shadows stressed across the room from the remains of the night, she knew the picture in perfect detail.

"I miss you Masaya." She said aloud, running the tips of her fingers over the border, "But you're not really gone are you? You're probably here with me now." She imagined Masaya's spirit smiling some where from behind her. She could practically feel the radiating warmth of his arms around her as he embraced her, and she dreamed she could feel him kissing her cheek softly.

Smiling serenely, she set the picture aside and crawled out of bed. She really needed to take Kish's advice and shower.

Ichigo opened the door to her bedroom into the complacent silence of the early morning. Stepping quietly so she wouldn't disturb her parents, she entered the bathroom and closed the door behind her with a soft click. She drew the curtains across the white tiling of the tub, and turned the knob for the hot water. As the water warmed up, Ichigo shed from her pajamas and turned to look at her reflection in the mirror. She had lost a lot of weights since Masaya's passing. Having always been rather fit, her muscle tone had decreased significantly. Her hair was oily and unkempt, emphasizing the face of an empty shell. Large bags hung under her eyes from lack of sleep and all-consuming depression. The lack of diet had caused her face to appear sunken and waxy, weighted down by what looked like a permanent pout.

Ichigo sighed, leaning forward against the counter and rubbing her temples. She was a complete mess. What would Masaya think of her in this state?

"He'd probably tell me to keep my chin up." She answered to her reflection in the mirror, which smiled back sheepishly.

Ichigo turned her back on the mirror and stepped into the shower. The warm water greeted her like an old friend, the warmth cascading down her bare skin. She bowed her head into the beads of water, watching the inevitable flow of the water into the drain. It was like watching her inner turmoil that had been plaguing her for weeks. Just as the water seemed to be spiraling out of control and piling up at the end of the basin, it just as quickly disappeared down the drain, leaving in its wake a fresh clean basin. The water was cleansing her of her pain and suffering, allowing her to start anew.

Ichigo pulled a fresh bottle of strawberry shampoo from the tiled shelf in her shower and squeezed a fair amount of it onto the palm of her hand. Eyes narrowed in concentration she messaged the substance through her hair and into her scalp.

"I'm done with tears. I will no longer cry." She told her self firmly, and stuck her head back under the spray, washing away tears she would no longer shed, "I need to be strong. I need to fight through this. I need to live. For both of us."

Ichigo finished washing her hair, turned off the shower and reached for her towel. She frowned, her hands groping at thin air. She thought she'd placed a towel on the rack. Ichigo ripped the curtains back, staring at the empty towel rack, which was always stocked with at least three towels. Where did her towels go?

"Wow my imagination is put to same by reality!" Some one wolf-whistled.

Ichigo's eyes widened to the size of saucers before registering the second presence in the room.

"KISH!" She shrieked, tugging the shower curtain around her with so much force, it was ripped cleanly from the pole. The falling curtain sent her off balance, the heel of her foot barely touching the base of the tub when it slipped in water, sending her crashing into the basin.

"Ichigo!" Her parents screamed. Hurried footsteps raced to the door, "Ichigo! Are you alright?" Her mom yelled through the door.

"Fine!" Ichigo yelled back, glaring at Kish as she rubbed the shoulder she had landed on. Kish chortled silently into his hand. Ichigo held her free hand out wordlessly. Kish tossed her the towels.

"What happened?" Her dad asked.

"I slipped climbing out of the tub." She replied, "Get out." She mouthed at Kish, emphasizing her point with a jerk towards the door.

"Did you hit your head?"

"No, just my shoulder. I'm fine though."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

Fuming, Ichigo clutched the curtain tightly around herself, listening to make sure her parents were out of earshot before rounding on Kish.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She hissed through gritted teeth. She wanted to get the towel on, but couldn't figure out how to accomplish this without revealing herself.

"Aw, come on Kitten, I just wanted to see you."

"When I'm showering?" She nearly shrieked.

"Well, it's certainly a step up from you looking disheveled and teary eyed – WHOA!" He easily caught the bottle of shampoo Ichigo had chucked at him.

"Get out so I can get dressed!"

"But you look just fine without clothes on."

The conditioner hit him square between the eyes. Kish stared at it for a moment, then at the irate girl who's face was nearly as scarlet as her hair.

"Get. Out. NOW!"

Kish rolled his eyes, and with a loud crack, disappeared.

Still fuming, Ichigo untangled herself from the shower curtain and toweled herself off. She gingerly poked at her shoulder, which was now darkening. Since she hadn't brought in a change of clothes, she simply tugged her pajamas back on and headed for her room where she knew Kish would be waiting. Sure enough, she crossed the threshold into her room to find the alien lying languidly on the bed.

Scowling, Ichigo stalked past him to her closet. She slid open the door and pulled out the formal black dress her mother had bought her for the funeral.

"If you look I'll kill you.' She threatened, pulling off her pajama shirt and fastening a bra into place before slipping into the dress. Once the dress was in place, she removed the pajama bottoms and tossed the article into the hamper, followed by the top.

"Can I look now?" Kish asked innocently, his voice slightly muffled.

Ichigo turned to see that he had one of her pillows pressed to his face, effectively blocking his eyes. She highly doubted the pillow had been there the whole time.

"Yeah." She replied shortly, walking over to her dresser to pick up her hairbrush. She combed her hair quietly, feeling uneasy as Kish's eyes seemed to stare at her unblinkingly.

"What?" Ichigo snapped, setting the brush down and reaching into a side drawer for two red ribbons.

"It's today isn't it? Masaya's funeral."

Ichigo forced down a tremor. She'd promised herself she wouldn't cry anymore.

"Yeah." She said in a small voice.

Kish finally looked away with an unhappy frown tugging at the corners of his mouth.

A silence stretched between them as Ichigo's fingers pulled her hair into two pigtails, secured by the ribbons. It was her old style, the one that reminded her of the best of memories with Masaya.

"Here," A bell tinkled in her ear. Ichigo glanced up at Kish, who now stood beside her. She hadn't even heard him approach. IN his hand he held her bell chocker.

"Thanks." She reached out for the necklace, but before she could grasp it, Kish pulled it out of her reach and fastened it carefully around her neck.

"Would you like me to be there with you?" He asked, placing his hands lightly on her shoulders.

Ichigo shook her head.

"My parents will be there and I'll have my friends with me."

Kish's expression hardened for a moment, but when she blinked, it was gone, making her wonder if she'd actually seen it.

"How are you holding up?" He inquired.

"I thought a lot about what you said." Ichigo replied, "About the different stages of life and where I am now. I decided… I decided that I can't cry forever. Masaya would not want me to be like that. He'd rather have me live my life to my fullest. So, I'm now going to live for both him and me."

Kish's grin matched hers in the mirror.

"Thank you Kish." Her next action surprised them both. She threw her arms around his middle and hugged him tightly.

After a moment's hesitation, Kish hugged her back, patting her hair softly.

"No problem Kitten. I'm always here for you."

"I should probably get going. My mom probably has breakfast ready." Ichigo murmured into his chest.

"Of course." Kish replied, squeezing her again before letting her go, "I'll see you after. We can go out for ice cream."

Ichigo smiled.

"I'd like that."

Kish watched as she walked out the door and could hear her padding down the stairs.

"Kish," The air shimmered, producing a small, brown hair, brown-eyed alien, similarly dressed as he was, "we need to get things moving. We can't wait any more!"

"I know Tart." Kish sighed, averting his gaze to the ground, "Just a little longer."

Hours later, Ichigo found herself at the site of the funeral. It was an average built community church that appeared to be rather bland on the outside. It was a combination of stucco and white washed brick. The stain-glass windows looked dark and uninviting.

Ichigo took a deep breath before following her parents through the French glass doors.

The Church's outer appearance had been deceiving. Indoors the walls were a mellow yellow color, bordering an immaculately kept, forest green, carpet. In coves were made in the walls lining the hallways, alternating between professional floral arrangements and statues of the saints. Here and there, there were even stain glass windows depicting help from the divine and paintings of the Lord and his works.

Mingling about in the large entrance hallway, complete with squash, plush chairs and a café, was the funeral party. Everyone was dressed in black as a sign of mourning. Ichigo scanned the crowed. She recognized both of Masaya's parents, a few of his relatives, and people from school, but a large majority of the people, she didn't know. She'd never seen them or even heard of them.

"Shall we go see the Aoyamas?" Ichigo's mother asked of her and her father.

"You guys go." Ichigo said. Despite how much she'd been telling herself to move on, suddenly, to be confronted with the task of consoling his grieving parents, her bravado slipped away. She could feel that cold, empty, numbness creeping towards her.

Her mother gripped her shoulder.

"Go find Yuki and Momo." She instructed.

Ichigo nodded and set off blindly into the sea of black.

She found her two friends towards the back of the procession, sitting quietly in a pair of plush armchairs under a window. They both looked up at her approach. Her own grieving expression mirrored by the two of them.

"Ichigo…" Mom said softly. She pushed herself off the chair and embraced Ichigo tightly. Ichigo returned the gesture, though her arms felt like lead.

"How are you doing?" Yuki asked, hugging her after Momo had let go.

"I'm ok." Ichigo mumbled.

"I guess so. You actually came out of your room." Yuki smirked, taking a stab at a joke.

Ichigo grinned half-heartedly.

"I even took a shower."

They chuckled quietly then almost immediately fell silent. It didn't seem appropriate to laugh amongst the crowd of mourners.

Ichigo found herself clutching her arms tightly around her middle, a habit she'd developed to counter act the oncoming misery. Momo seemed to have sensed this.

"Have you seen the room where the funeral will be held?" She asked. Ichigo shook her head, "Let's go check it out."

She led them through the throng, her red hair lighting the way like a beacon. They followed Momo to a pair of heavy oak doors that she pushed through with ease.

While Ichigo was positive Masaya would've preferred to have his memorial service outdoors amongst nature, the room his family had chosen was positively breath taking. The carpet ended in the doorway and gave way to a polished hardwood floor. In the center of the room, the floor was carved out into the shape of a cross. A delicate assortment of blue tile lined the alcove, and the entire basin was filled with clean, sparkling water. Lining each side of the basin were rows of mahogany carved benches facing a raised platform. On the wall were two large paintings. The one on the left showed the Virgin Mary while the one on the right depicted Jesus. Cascading down the wall and along the floor were an assortment of flowers that lead up to a white clothed table, and on the table, a coffin.

Ichigo's eyes widened. Trembling, she walked through the doorway, past the rows of mahogany benches, up the step to the platform and zeroed the way between her and the coffin.

The scene was unreal to her. There lay Masaya, cleanly trimmed and dressed in a fancy black tux. His eyes were closed; his hands were folded across his chest. It almost seemed like he was sleeping. It wasn't until she started really studying him that she could see the extent of the damage. Beneath the carefully chosen make up, she could see bruises of varying colors on the left side of his head. His lip was torn, and indents, from what looked like gravel, riddled his face and neck. She looked closely at his hands, unhealed scars.

Ichigo clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a sob. No matter what she'd told herself this morning in the shower, she hadn't been prepared for this, to see his broken and mangled form.

Yuki and Momo were at her side in an instant.

"Let's go sit down." Momo suggested in a quiet voice.

Ichigo nodded wordlessly and allowed her friends to steer her away from Masaya's body, and into the rows of benches. She sat down heavily, trying to keep the images and emotions at bay, but already she could feel the white-hot tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

She heard the doors open, and the sound of multiple footsteps crossing into the room. Masaya's parents took a position up front, their friends and relatives filing in close to them. Ichigo's, Momo's, and Yuki's parents easily found the three girls and shuffled into the bench behind them. Ichigo's mother reached forward to grip her shoulder and passed her a cloth handkerchief. Ichigo thanked her and dabbed at the corners of her eyes.

As the last few mourners took a seat, an elderly lady in a purple dress suit ascended the small stage before Masaya's coffin where a podium had been placed.

"We are gathered here today in order to say good-bye to a bright and wonderful boy." She began. Ichigo's heart sank. She could already tell that this woman had no connection to Masaya.

The woman then went on to describe Masaya's accomplishments through his life, like she had just been fed minutes beforehand on what to say, then how he would be remembered and dearly missed by all those who had met him. She didn't know him. How he could illuminate a room with just his presence, save any life no matter how small and how he had aided the Mews in their battle against the alien invaders. No, this woman did not know him at all. Here and there they were asked to recite a passage from the Bibles located in a basket attached to the benches in front of them.

Despite hating how the funeral was run, Ichigo couldn't stop herself from crying. She was never able to view the passages they were expected to read through her tears, to even recite any of the conventional prayers, or even participate much at all. Worse yet, people kept sending her sympathetic glances. She didn't want their sympathy. She wanted the boy she had lost.

The woman finished her speech and stepped down from the stage. When she took her seat, members of the funeral party began standing and making their way to the coffin for a final good-bye.

"We should go too." Yuki said, standing up and brushing wrinkles from her dress.

"We should wait for the family first." Momo replied quietly. She brushed unshed tears from her eyes, glancing sideways at Ichigo.

Ichigo nodded mutely.

Yuki sat back down, eyeing Ichigo out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm not going to break down." Ichigo told her, "I think I've cried just about every tear out of me."

Yuki nodded.

They waited in silence until the sea of people began to clear away from the coffin. Taking a deep breath, Ichigo stood up. This was it. This was goodbye to Masaya in the physical world.

Her friends followed wordlessly as she made her way out of their row, down the aisle, and to the stage. She had been so determined to get to that coffin and get it over with that she didn't realize she was there until she nearly tripped over it.

It was still hard to believe that the body, now adorned with flowers, was his. Ichigo felt the corners of her mouth dip as she gazed down upon him.

"I guess this is it." She whispered, before bending down and kissing his cold, dead, cheek, "Goodbye, my Blue Knight." And with that she turned to leave but had only taken two steps away when she backtracked. Ichigo quickly undid the bow that held the bell chocker around her neck and set it in the coffin near Masaya's head, "So that I'll always be able to find you."

"Blue Knight?" Momo asked as the two of them stepped down from the platform.

"Nick name." Ichigo grinned.

"Oh, I never heard you refer to him as that before today."

"It was a private thing." Ichigo lied easily as she watched Yuki and all their parents say their farewells.

"Are you going to be ok?" Momo asked hesitantly, clasping her hands behind her back.

Ichigo nodded, "With time."

"Ichigo." Her mother and father had now left the platform and were walking towards her, "Mr. and Mrs. Aoyama said they would like to see you."

Her blood froze. This was still something she wasn't ready to do.

"We'll be right behind you." Yuki assured her, walking up to them.

Ichigo inclined her head solemnly and followed her mother to the door.

Mr. and Mrs. Aoyama stood right outside. Mrs. Aoyama was a middle aged Japanese woman with streaks of grey in her dark brown hair, and a kind set of motherly eyes. Mr. Aoyama was clean-shaven, and wore wire-rimmed glasses that made his eyes look twice the size they actually were. The two of them were thanking the funeral guests for their condolences. When Mrs. Aoyama spotted Ichigo, she instantly broke off her conversation and ran to enfold the smaller girl in a hug.

Ichigo hugged her back, gripping her tightly. She hoped to convey all of her feelings of regret, loss and sympathy through the simple contact, for she didn't feel she could offer anything more to the grieving mother.

Mrs. Aoyama pulled back, and to Ichigo's surprise she was smiling. It was a pained smile, but held affectionate warmth.

"He always loved you." She told Ichigo, patting her cheek clumsily and then tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear, "Thank you for being someone so important to our boy. As a mother, I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful and wonderful girl."

Ichigo's face flushed red.

"I-I-I can't believe some one as amazing and talented as him would ever notice me." Ichigo stammered, "He was truly one of a kind. I… I am so sorry for your loss."

Mrs. Aoyama smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you."

Ichigo exchanged another hug with Mr. Aoyama and both expressed their condolences to one another. It was odd, Ichigo thought, that they would apologize to her so much when it was they who had suffered more. She felt she should offer them more in comfort. There must've been some further way she could show them her support and devotion to Masaya, but before Ichigo knew it, they were saying their goodbyes. In the next instance, she was walking out to the parking lot, Yuki and Momo at her sides.

"Do you feel like you were able to get some closure?" Momo asked, "I-I mean! I know it's hard and you'll never forget him, but –!"

"Easy." Ichigo interrupted, placing a hand on her friends shoulder, "I did." She looked back and forth between her friends, "Thank you both for sticking with me."

"Of course. That's what we're here for." Yuki smiled.

Ichigo smiled in return.

"I can't believe that's how his funeral was held. That woman knew nothing about Masaya."

Ichigo's smile quickly disappeared as she, Yuki, and Momo, whirled around to stare at a green-haired, large eared boy that had appeared out of no where.

"Kish!" Ichigo breathed, staring at the alien in shock. Hadn't she told the alien not to come?

Yuki shifted next to her, placing herself in between the two other girls and the alien.

"Ichigo, do you know him?" Yuki asked. Her eyes locked on him predatory like, watching and calculating his every move.

"Ichigo who's this?" Her dad asked.

Panicking, Ichigo ran forward and grabbed Kish's hand.

"Everyone, this is Kish. He's an exchange student from… from… Africa!" She invented wildly.

"Africa?" Her mother repeated, looking thoroughly unconvinced.

"Er, yes, Africa." Kish confirmed with a noncommittal jerk of his head, "Where's Africa?" He asked Ichigo out of the corner of his mouth.

Ichigo wished she could kick him with out any one noticing.

"We had an exchange student?" Momo whispered to Yuki. Yuki shook her head, eyeing Ichigo as if she could x-ray the truth out of her.

"Well Kish, I'm Sakura Momomiya, Ichigo's mother, and this is Shintaro Momomiya, her father."

"Very nice to meet you." Kish greeted with a bow.

"I must say your Japanese is superb." Shintaro complimented, holding out his hand for Kish to shake.

Kish took it firmly, "Thank you very much."

"How did you and Ichigo meet?" Yuki inquired, smiling a bit to brightly for Ichigo's comfort.

"Well, funny story, we met with a – HMPH!" Ichigo quickly slapped her hand over his mouth, now positively pink with embarrassment.

"Kish," she began, keeping her voice as even as possible, "can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?" She emphasized the last bit, and with out waiting for an answer, she dragged him away, ignoring the protests of her friends and parents.

Ichigo made sure they were well out of earshot before rounding on Kish.

"What are you doing here?" She nearly yelled.

"Same thing as you. Saying good bye to Masaya." Kish replied, cocking his head to the side.

"I told you not to come! What were you thinking?"

"I already told you my reason for coming! Why shouldn't I be here?"

"Because you're an alien!" Ichigo yelled, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

"No, I'm a waulrinswi." He corrected coldly, "Stop calling me an alien."

"Kish!"

"What? What's the problem? And what's up with all the secrets and lies? Haven't you told your parents about me?"

Ichigo's eyes widened in realization. Kish didn't know that her identity was a secret, that she had not shared with her parents or friends that she was a Mew, much less her involvement with the aliens.

"No, I haven't."

"What?"

"I haven't told my parents or friends about you. I haven't even told them I'm a Mew."

Kish reeled back in shock.

"So they don't know about Deep Blue or –."

Ichigo shook her head.

"Oh geez," Kish groaned, slapping a hand over his forehead, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think you'd blatantly appear before them like that!" Ichigo defended heatedly.

"I didn't even mask myself!"

"Yeah no… wait… what?" Ichigo exclaimed.

Kish clapped a hand over his mouth looking like he'd let slip a closely guarded secret.

"N-nothing." He said hastily.

"What do you mean 'mask' yourself?" Ichigo pressed.

"Nothing what so ever." Kish replied evasively.

"Kish –!" But she was cut off by a burning sensation in the pocket of her dress. Her hand instantly closed around a small, oval shaped pendant. She quickly pulled it out. In faint, etched looking writing, were the words:

Meet at base. Now. Urgent.

Just as soon as she'd seen the message, it disappeared.

Ichigo swore under her breath, casting a worried glance in the direction of her friends and family.

"Go, I'll cover for you." Kish promised.

Ichigo hesitated, not wanting to run off with out telling them were she was going and most certainly not wanting to rely on Kish, especially when he was still hiding things from her.

Her pendant burned again in her hand, flashing the word: Now!

"Don't do anything weird." Ichigo ordered him lamely before taking off at a full sprint in the direction of the Mew Café. She'd apologize for running out on them later. She had barely run a block from the church when Kish caught up with her.

"Need a lift?"

"I thought you were going to take care of my family!"

"I did!"

"What did you –?"

"Oh just hold on." Kish scooped her cleanly from the sidewalk in a princess hold before disappearing on the spot.

They reappeared in front of the Mew Mew café, a small pink structure decorated like the icing of a cake, complete with heavy set windows and outdoor seating. For a place that could be heard from miles away, the place was strangely empty and desolate. Ichigo's brow furrowed. Something was really wrong.

"Thanks for the lift." Ichigo said, hopping out of his arms. She immediately ran for the door, and was shocked when Kish followed her.

"Um, you may want to stay out here. I haven't told anyone that you're back."

"Oh, they know we're back." Kish replied, his tone flat. He pushed open the doors into the pink, frilly, decorated café, which was, indeed, empty, except for nine people. Mint, Lettuce, Pudding, Berry, and even Zakuro were there, accompanied by two men. One was tall, dressed in a simple waiter's outfit, and with long brown hair that reached the back of his knees. This was Keiichiro Akasaka, the owner and creator of the café and Mew project. He smiled sympathetically and bowed at her entrance. The other man was slightly shorter, with bleach blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, Ryou Shirogane, the team's devoted researcher and leader. He lifted his fingers to acknowledge her presence, but looked like he was in a bad mood. He was leaning back in a chair, his foot up against the surface of the table, and was glaring daggers at Kish. Kish's friends, Tart and Pai were also there. Tart still looked as childish as ever, small with large brown eyes and ears, while Pai looked largely the same. Calm, cool, and analytical, he was the eldest and tallest brother of the aliens, also the most serious. He rarely ever cracked a genuine smile, and was currently frowning tightly.

"I guess since we're all, finally, here," Pai threw a disapproving look at Kish, "I can explain everything."

Ichigo looked at every person and waulrinswarian in the room with confusion. What was going on? She returned Zakuro's wave, wondering vaguely when she'd gotten back into town.

"Yes please." Ryou stated coldly.

Akasaka threw him a disapproving scowl.

"That is no way to speak to our guests Ryou." He reprimanded. Ryou ignored him, his eyes narrowing. Pai pretended not to hear.

"Just about two years ago, after our failed attempt to reclaim Earth and the Deep Blue incident, our people, the Waulrinswi, came across another planet." Pai detached a small, ISB looking device from the belt he wore across his torso and set it flat on the table. He clicked the edge of it, and a grainy, pixilated image of a sparkling blue planet erupted from the small device. It grew in size until it resembled a large, see through beach ball. Now that it was larger, Ichigo could see a mixture of green and brown patches, closely clumped together. Like Earth, those must be landmasses. However, unlike Earth, there was a much larger ratio of water to land.

"This is Sorqoseum Promas, or Salvation Planet." Pai continued, "At first it seemed that the planet was uninhabited so we began exploring." He clicked the device again, zooming in on a portion of the planet. Boxes of images appeared next to it with a scroll bar. Pai clicked on the first image, and everything cleared out of the way so that they were only looking at an image of abundant vegetation with a waterfall gleaming in the background. It looked like the images of Hawaii Ichigo had seen once in her geography class.

"It's beautiful." Zakuro murmured in astonishment.

Kish and Tart made a noise of agreement.

Pai flicked through a few more images, many of them depicting plants that were common to Earth: trees, ferns, grasses, and flowers, but there were a few Ichigo had never seen before. Hanging from a majority of the trees and vines were large, banana yellow plants that looked to be a few feet long and nearly just as wide.

"These plants, which we have yet to name, are extremely acidic. They produce some sort of acid that can eat cleanly through our toughest of armor. We've made a point to stay away from them, though luckily they're mostly in the forest landscapes. They seem to need plenty of shade." Pai explained.

He flicked to another image that looked like the plant version of a starfish with a large gurgling hole in the middle.

"We also have yet to name this death trap. It appears to lure its prey in with some sort of smell, then fold and traps the prey like a Venus fly trap."

Pai thumbed through more images. In one there was a bright blue, fluffy looking bug that had reptilian designed wings and a trunk that resembled a minuscule version of an elephants. It had large blue eyes that would've looked adorable if they weren't lattice shaped and bugged out the side of its head. Another depicted the mythical unicorn, a tall, pearly white horse creature with a spiral horn. The only draw back was that it appeared to be carnivorous; in the image, a small herd was feeding on some sort of carcass. Still further, another image depicted a creature that closely resembled a Pterodactylus, though twice its size with six sets of wings and two jaws. Even further there were birds of various shapes, sizes, and colors. The major differences were the number of eyes. Many had the customary two, while the rest had any from three to eight.

"The photography is lovely, but I'm sure the reason you're here is not to show off your new find." Ryou said flatly.

"Ryou!" Akasaka exclaimed in outrage.

Pai held up his hand, settling his impassive grey eyes on the blonde youth.

"No, you're right. It's not. The reason we are here is this." The screen changed to a blurry streak of dark green.

"What is it?" Pudding asked, squinting, and even trying to stand on her head to try and make sense of the image.

"We don't know." Tart replied, suppressing a shudder.

"When our explorers have been out and about the land they'll be reporting to base about what they see." Pai drew a hand across the pixilated image, turned a dial on the device and a video appeared before them, "I've translated it to Japanese so you'll understand."

The image began to move, showing a dense forest of vegetation. The yellow plants hung from the canopy looking like brightly colored, oversized bats. Weird sounds resonated through out the scene. There were the screeches of what they assumed to be birds, the hum of insects, and even growls that rumbled through the foliage. As far as Ichigo could see, the island was completely uninhabited.

The camera bobbed and weaved through the vegetation, ducking at overhanging branches, giving the impression that it was being carried, probably strapped to someone's head. The sound of heavy breathing. A grunt as the sound of branch hit flesh. Green, green, green. Ichigo had never seen so much green.

"It's hot." Some one on the screen grunted.

"Nice difference from all the howling winds eh?" Another replied. Some one else laughed.

"Are we getting any closer to water?"

The waulrinswi on the screen paused to listen. Faintly, they, and the people watching them, could hear the faint flow of water in the distance.

"It's getting closer. We need to head this way."

The camera bobbed like it had been whipped around, then set off in another direction of green. More vegetation appeared as they ventured further. There was a large purple plant that closely resembled the structure of a mushroom except that it seemed to be pulsing. Every time it expanded, neon green lines formed on the exterior looking like veins.

"What do you suppose this is?" The voice sounded really close. It must've been the camera waulrinswi speaking.

A member of the search party, a female waulrinswi with flaming red hair, pale skin, and tight fit clothing, stepped forward and bent down to examine the mushroom. She muttered things about the plant Ichigo couldn't understand, but she got the general idea. The scientist was analyzing the physical structure of the plant. She rummaged around on the ground and found a stick, which she used to carefully poke at the plant. The plant shuddered and shied away from the touch, but as soon as the stick had retracted, it went straight back to its original position, breathing, as if in a sigh of relief. The scientist waulrinswi then pulled out a set of tools she kept in a pack around her back and pulled out a chemistry set. She picked out several of the vials provided and a scapula.

"Do you really need a sample now Pakai?" A male asked.

"We're supposed to gather as much information as we can about everything we see." Pakai replied, not even glancing away from her work. She scooped a sample of the exterior of the plant into a vial, sending the plant shivering into a tight ball.

"Yeah but right now we need water or we're going to die of dehydration."

"This will only take a sec."

"We're going to keep going. Catch up with us."

She nodded, extracting another device from the bag and hooking it up to a stopper she'd placed above the vial.

"Don't wait to long."

With that parting, the camera angle moved and the rest of the party continued through the dense forest. The sound of water was getting louder as they walked. Finally, the foliage parted to reveal a sparkling stream. It was literally sparkling. It was clear, but shone with a bright blue color, as if the glow was coming out of the soil.

"Finally." Some one muttered.

There was the sound of rummaging and thumps as bags and personal belongings were dropped onto moss-covered rocks next to the water's edge. Canteens were dunked into the liquid, and there was silence as the explorers drank their fill. The camera was taken off and set aside. Its carrier hadn't even bothered to turn it off. Now all that could be seen was the side of a rock. How was this supposed to show anything?

"Suppose we should report to headquarters." Someone grunted, "What a pain."

"I'll do it." Another click, "This is squad WR93 reporting in. After much exploring we've discovered –," the ground shook.

"What was that?" A waulrinswi exclaimed. Though they couldn't see what was going on, Ichigo imagined the entire party was on their feet, standing at attention, and staring around wide eyed.

A scream.

"Pakai!"

"Pakai!"

Silence.

"What happened?" Some one yelled.

"Pakai!"

Still no answer.

Another scream. The sound of stumbling footsteps.

"Drell!"

Soon the entire room was filled with the screams of the explore team. Screams of agony and pure terror. It sounded as if the crew was getting massacred.

The force of the impact on the ground flipped the camera. Ichigo gasped. Blood covered the expanse of the rock and moss, flowing soundlessly into the river, staining the water crimson. The waulrinswi had put up a fight, but to no avail. Closest to the lens was one of the explorers. Brown haired, and shorter ears on any of the waulrinswi Ichigo had ever seen, his large dark eyes stared open and unblinking. Like the rest of the land around him, he was covered in crimson blood that came from were his head had been severed from the rest of his body. Beyond him was an arm, followed by a punctured torso. Organs spilled haphazardly across the ground. Not a single member of the crew was left alive.

The ground rumbled again. Something hissed and spat, and before the screen began to disintegrate, Ichigo was able to make out a blur of dark green, and then everything went black.

"We've sent a little over twenty search and explorer parties. The result has been the same." Pai said darkly, pressing something on the device that shut it down and clipped it back to his belt, "All have had countless footage, but not one has been able to capture an image of the assailants. Out of the hundreds of waulrinswi we've sent, only one has survived, and he's standing in this room"

Pai looked up. All eyes in the room followed his gaze. All eyes in the room found Kish.

A/N:

Thank you all for the reviews! I am very sorry for the wait for this chapter and if it seems shorter compared to the other two. It was only 13 pages typed :(

I still don't have an editor. Are there any of my readers that would be willing to edit? I get worried that I'll start randomly rambling and it won't make sense to the story, especially because I just recently had surgery. Please let me know if this chapter makes no sense. I tried writing while I was on pain medication, and I think it turned out ok, but I'm not sure, so reviews are very needed for this chapter XP

I will get straight to work on chapter 4. Thank you all for you support.